Isaako to use home Test to honour terminally ill father

Jamayne Isaako is painfully aware his fifth Test appearance for the Kiwis on Saturday night could be the last time his terminally ill father Taai gets to see him play for his country.

After watching every minute of his son's games for the Broncos last year, the effects of cancer has restricted Taai from being there in person for much of the 2019 season.

Isaako said he was grateful for the opportunity to play against Great Britain in his hometown of Christchurch, the same city where Taai is receiving treatment.

Taai, along with a large group of other family members, plans to attend the game at Orangetheory Stadium on Saturday night. 

"Being able to come back home to Christchurch and play in front of him is huge to me," Isaako said.

"That will be a huge motivator for myself this weekend to be able to play in front of him.

"Dad was at every single one of my games last year in Australia.

"With the terminal cancer this year he didn't get the opportunity to come to any games.

"It's always special coming back home. Being able to represent New Zealand in front of my family will be very special.

"We have got a fair few tickets sorted. I'll be definitely looking to poach everyone's spare tickets as much as I can."

With the New Zealand squad spending the entire week in Christchurch, Isaako has been using any downtime and get to visit his father in hospital.

"I'm trying to spend as much time with him as I can while being back home," Isaako said.

"We had a wee bit of downtime on Monday and I got down to the hospital and sat next to him while he was doing his chemo.

"I think he has only got a couple more sessions to go before he gets a wee bit of a break and tries to see how he goes without the chemo."

After scoring his first Test try last weekend in a 12-8 victory over the Lions at Eden Park, Isaako said more tries in Christchurch would be a bonus.

He also has his eyes set on keeping the job as the side's goalkicker despite the return of Shaun Johnson.

Isaako grew up supporting the Crusaders rugby union team in Christchurch and always dreamed of emulating kickers such as All Blacks great Dan Carter.

"It would be nice to kick in front of a home crowd this week. Coming from Christchurch and watching a lot of the Canterbury Crusaders games I have always dreamed of kicking in front of a big home crowd," Isaako said.

"If I do get the kicking opportunities I'll be grateful for it ... we will probably see who kicks well come captain's run.

"I'm the first-string kicker for the Broncos and it's something I pride myself on."